Solenoid operated electric switch



Jan. 26, 1960 K. (5. WHITE SOLENOID OPERATED ELECTRIC SWITCH Filed Feb.27, 1959 m m M KENNETH G. WH/T E gnf )1 ll/x United States Patent2,922,861 SOLENOID OPERATED EEiECTRIC SWITCH Kenneth G. White, SweetHome, Oreg. 1 Application February 27, 1959, Serial No. 796,020

4 Claims. or. 200106) This invention relates to a novel solenoidoperated elec- 'tric switch adapted to be interposed in the electricsystem of a motor vehicle, boat, aircraft or the like, for

completely disconnecting the electric system from the current source toeliminate the risk of fire resulting from a shorted or defective wiringin the electric system, or which can be utilized for disconnecting theelectric systerm to prevent theftof the vehicle.

Solenoid operated switches for the same purpose have been previouslyemployed and are well-known. However, such previous devices requiredmaintaining the solenoid energized to retain the switch in a circuitclosing position and which involves a constant current drain on thecurrent source.

It is a primaryobject of the present invention to provide a solenoidoperated switch including a unique latch unit for retaining the switchin a circuit closing position while the solenoid is de-energized, and sothat the solenoid is only momentarily energized for moving the switch toeither a circuit closing position or a circuit interrupting position, sothat no current is utilized by the solenoid during the time that theswitch remains in either a closed or an open position.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure l is a vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, showing thesolenoid actuated switch in a circuit closing position;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view, similar to Figure 1, showing the switchin a circuit interrupting position and looking in the opposite directionrelative to Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view through the switch, takensubstantially along a line 3-3 of Figure 1; Figure 4 is an enlargedfragmentary vertical sectional view, taken substantially along the line4-4 of Figure'l;

Figure 5 is an enlarged end elevational view of one element of the latchassembly;

, Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section, of aportion of the latch assembly, taken at a right angle to Figures 1 and2, and

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the electric circuit of theswitch and electric circuit controlled thereby.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the solenoid operatedelectric switch in its entirety is designated generally 10 and includesa housing or casing 11 having provided. with a nut 18 for securing thecontact to the ice wall 14. The parts 17 and 18 additionally provide abinding post for the contact 15 or 16 thereof.

A conventional solenoid 19 is disposed within the housing 11 and has oneend thereof secured to a portion of the end wall 13. One end 20 of thecoil or winding 21 of the solenoid 19 is attached to the contact 15 andthe other end 22 of said winding 21 is attached to the inner end of abinding post 23 which is supported in and extends through the end wall13.

A stem or spindle 24 is disposed longitudinally within the housing 11but between and spaced from the contacts 15 and 16 and has one endreciprocably mounted in the solenoid '19 and forming the core thereof.The other end of the spindle 24 fits loosely in a cylindrical portion 25of the housing 11, which extends inwardly from the end wall 12 and whichis disposed in alignment with the solenoid 19. A conductor bridge 26 ofelectrical conducting material, which is preferably in the form of adisc, has acentral opening 27 through which a portion of the spindle 24loosely extends. A collar 28 is fixed to the spindle 24 between thecylinder portion 25 and the disc 26. A compression spring 29 is mountedon the spindle 24 between the disc 26 and the solenoid 19 and a secondcompression spring 30 is disposed on the spindle 24 between the disc 26and the collar 28. Washers 31 of electrical insulating material aredisposed around the spindle 24 and against opposite sides of the disc26. The adjacent ends of the springs 29 and 30 bear against said washers31.

Two rigid sleeves 32 and 33 are secured immovably, in any conventionalmanner, with the cylindrical portion 25 and in spaced apart relation toone another. The sleeve 32, which is disposed nearest the end wall 12,has oppositely disposed notches 34 and 35, as seen in Figures 1 and 2,respectively, which open therefrom toward the sleeve 33 and which are ofmodified V-shape cross sec tion. The inner end of the sleeve 32 hasedges 36 and 37 extending at an incline from eachof the notches 34 and35 in a direction toward the end wall 12. Each edge 36 converges towardand merges wth an edge 37 to form a notch 38, as best seen in Figure 6.The notches 38 are located opposite to one another and nearer the endwall 12 than the notches 34 and 35.

The other inner sleeve 33 has two adjacently disposed notches 39 and 40disposed opposite and facing toward the notch 34, as seen in Figure 1,and two corresponding notches 41 and 42 which are similarly disposedrelative to the notch 35, as seen in Figure 2. The notch 41 correspondsto the notch 39 and the notch 42 corresponds to the notch 40. The end ofthe sleeve 33, which faces the sleeve 32, has edge portions 43 which arespaced from and disposed nearly parallel to the edge portions 36, asseen in Figures 1 and 2. Said edges 43 have cor responding endsextending to the beds of the notches 39 and 41. Thus, portions of saidedges 43 constitute parts of the notches 39 and 41. The sleeve 33 alsohas edge portions 44 extending from the notches 40 and 42 and which aredisposed substantially parallel to the edge portions 37. The edgeportions 43 extend in converging relation to the edge portions 44 andconverge therewith to form points 45, as seen in Figure 6, which aredisposed substantially directly above the notches 38.

The spindle 24 is provided with a bore 46 which extendsdiametricallytherethrough and which is preferably of rectangular cross section. A bar47 extends through and fits snugly in the bore 46 and has end portionsprojecting outwardly from the ends of said bore and forming keys 48 and49 which are triangular in shape as viewed endwise thereof, or as seenin Figures 1, 5 and 6. Each key 48 and 49 has a flat side 50 andinclined faces of the two keys face in opposite directions, as seen inFigure 5, but looking toward either key in a direction inwardly of thebar 47, said keys appear identical. The keys 4S and 49 are of a size tomove freely between the sleeves 32 and 33 and the over-all length of thebar 41 including the keys 43 and 49 is less than the outer diameter ofthe sleeves 32 and 33, as best seen in Figure 4.

The binding post 17, 18 of contact 15 is adapted to be connected to aconductor wire 53 leading from one terminal of a current source such asa vehicle storage battery 54, as illustrated diagrammatically in Figure7. The binding post 17, 180i the contact 16 is connected to a conductorwire 55 leading to the entire electric system of the vehicle, not shown.Aconductor wire 56 leads from the binding post 23 to a ground 57 and hasinterposed therein a manually actuated switch 58 which may be of anyconventional construction. The switch 58 is preferably a pushbuttonswitch which normally assumes an open position automatically and must bepushed to a circuit closing position for bridging the contact elements59 defining a gap in the conductor 56.

Assuming that the keys 48 and 49 are disposed in the notches 38, as seenin Figures 2and 6, the conductor bridge 26 will be held out ofengagement with the contacts 15 and 16, as seen in Figure 2, so that theswitch is in' an open position. If switch 58 is also in its normal openposition, as illustrated in Figure 7, there will be no current drainfrom the current source 54 and no current can be supplied to any partsof the vehicle electric system through the conductor wire 55. Thus, ashort circuit which might cause a fire could not occur nor could anycurrent leakage result through any defects in the vehicle electricsystem. The switch 58 may be disposed in any remote location relative tothe switch housing 11, preferably convenient to the vehicle operatorfrom the operators seat, but also preferably in a concealed location sothat it could not be readily located by an unauthorized person. Thus,the switch 10 also forms an anti-theft device.

With the parts in the positions as shown in Figures 2 and 6, when theswitch 58 is momentarily moved to a circuit closing position, thesolenoid 19 is energized to draw the spindle 24 toward said solenoid andto move the conductor bridge 26 into engagement with the contacts and 16for completing an electric circuit between the conductors 53 and 55. Asthis occurs, keys 48 and 49 commence tomove toward the sleeve 33 and areso disposed, as seen in Figure 6, that the inclined surfaces 51 of saidkeys will contact the edges 43, adjacent the points 45. Thus, said edgesprovide cam tracks along which the key faces 51 will ride for turningthe spindle 24 counterclockwise through an arc of approximately 90 anduntil the keys 48 and 49 seat in the notches 39 and 41'. During thismovement of the spindle 24 toward the solenoid 19, 'the bridge 26 willengage the contacts 15 and 16 afterwhich the spindle 24 will movethrough said bridge and as: the spring 30 is compressed. When the switch58 is' released to automatically assume an open position, the solenoid19 is de-energized and the recoil spring 29 acting against the conductorbridge 26 the compressed spring 30 and the collar 28, displaces thespindle 24 away fromsaid' solenoid. The keys 48 and 49 are thusdisplaced out'of the notches 39 and 41 and toward the notches 34 and 35.The surfaces S2 of the keys move into the en agement with the surfaces60 of the notches 34 and 35 to produce a cam'mingaction by which thespindle 24 and said keys are turned slightly in the same directionorcounterclockwise, to allow said keys to seat in said notches 34 and35, as illustrated in Figures 1, 3 and 4. In this position'of the partsthe bridge 26 is still maintained in engagement with the contacts 15 anda 16 by the partially compressed spring 30 to maintain an electricalconnection between the conductors 53 and 55,

tween conductors 53 and 55 by returning the switch 10 to its openposition of Figure 2, the switch 58 is again manually moved to a closedposition to re-energize the solenoid 19 to draw the spindle 24 towardsaid solenoid and to move the two keys out of the notches 34 and 35 andtoward the notches 40 and 42 which are disposed partially in alignmentwith said notches 34 and 35, respectively. As the keys move toward thenotches 40 and 42 the surfaces 51 thereof move into camming engagementwith the surfaces 61 of the notches 40 and 42 to again turn the spindle24 slightly in'the same direction or counterclockwise as seen in Figure3 to move the keys oute of alignment with the notches 34 and 35, as saidkeys seat in the notches 40 and 42. Thereafter, when the switch 58 isreleased to return to an open position, the recoil spring 29 will movethe spindle 24 and conductor bridge 26 to the positions of said parts asseen in Figure, 2. As the'spindle 24 moves away from the solenoid 19 thekeys will move out of the notches 40 and 42 and toward portions of theedges 37 which are located adjacent said notches 34 and 35. Thesurfaces52 of the keys will contact said portions of the edges 37 which thusform cam tracks for causing the keys and spindle 24 to again turncounterclockwise, as seen in Figure 3, until The housing 11 isillustrated in Figure 3 as being formed of two longitudinal halvessecured together by the fastenings 62, but may be constructed in anyother suitable manner. The cylinder 25 is likewise composed of twohalves, one constituting a part of each half of the housing. Thesolenoid 19 can be secured to the end wall portion 13 of the housinghalf in which the binding post 23 is mounted.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resortedto, without departing from the function or scope of the invention ashereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A solenoid operated switch adapted to be interposed in a primaryelectric circuit of a current source including two contacts electricallyinsulated from one another for breaking the electric circuit, a solenoidadapted to be connected to the current source around said contacts, anormally open manually closed switch interposed in the solenoid circuitfor normally maintaining the solenoid de-energized, a spindle having aportion forming a solenoid armature slidably movable toward saidsolenoid when energized, a bridge member of electrical conductingmaterial carried by said spindle and movable therewith into engagementwith said contacts for completing a circuit between the Contacts, arecoil spring engaging and moving the spindle away from the solenoidwhen the solenoid is de-energized; and a latch assembly including astationary section in which a part of said spindle is reciprocably androtatably disposed and a movable section connected to and movable withthe spindle, said stationary section having a cam way engaged by a partof the movable section for rotating said spindle and movable section asthe spindle is reciprocated by energizing the solenoid and by therecoilspring when the solenoid is deenergized, and said stationary sectionhaving latching means for receiving the movable section alternate timesthat the'spindle is moved by the recoil spring for limiting movement ofthe spindle in a direction away from the sion spring carried by saidspindle, said conductor bridge being slidably mounted on the spindlebetween the compression spring and said recoil spring and beingyieldably held in engagement with said contacts when the solenoid isenergized and when the movable latch section is in engagement with saidlatch recess.

3. A solenoid operated switch adapted to be interposed in a primaryelectric circuit of a current source including two contacts electricallyinsulated from one another for breaking the electric circuit, a solenoidadapted to be connected to the current source around said contacts, anormally open manually closed switch interposed in the solenoid circuitfor normally maintaining the solenoid de-energized, a spindle having aportion forming a solenoid armature slidably movable toward saidsolenoid when energized, a bridge member of electrical conductingmaterial carried by said spindle and movable therewith into engagementwith said contacts for completing a circuit between the contacts, arecoil spring engaging and moving the spindle away from the solenoidwhen the solenoid is de-energized; and latch means for alternatelylatching the spindle when the solenoid is de-energized for lim itingmovement of the spindle away from the solenoid to retain said conductorbridge in engagement with said contacts, said latch means including astationary section having an undulating annular cam way and a movablesection fixed to a part of the spindle and engaging said cam way forcausing the spindle to turn about its axis as it is reciprocated by thesolenoid and recoil spring, said cam way including a latch portion forreceiving a part of said movable section alternate times that thespindle is moved by the recoil spring for latching the spindle againstmovement by the recoil spring from a position with said conductor bridgeengaging said spaced contacts.

4. A solenoid operated switch as in claim 3, said cam way havingportions engaging the movable section for turning the spindle duringreciprocating movement of the spindle in either direction.

No references cited.

